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Whats on your 2mm Work bench


nick_bastable
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These arrived today. NCU plates, ventilated wording and numbers. Putting numbers together takes a long time, especially when you need to do it FOUR times per wagon. NCU plates and the Ventilated wording are not on the standard Fox or Model Master sheets and neither are squashed up numbers that are necessary to fit the running number between corner plate and stanchion on open wagons with a sheet supporter. Since I was getting custom transfers made up I decided to have a number of additional useful numbers made up as strings too. All of them come from within blocks of numbers from Atkins et. al. and can therefore can be used multiple times by changing one or two numbers. 

 

15787754567399191876464145041651.jpg.887af6b60c4854a6cb43dd6cdb401833.jpg

 

No excuse not to finish some open wagons now. Once I've figured out how to make something that looks like a GWR sheet supporter, anyway.

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3 hours ago, -missy- said:

Thanks Don.

 

Regarding the quartering I made a jig for that. I seem to spend just as much time making jigs as the actual job...

 

J.

20200104_140639.jpg

 

True Jigs take time to make but less time than trying to put right things that proved too difficult without one. 

Don

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11 hours ago, Nick Mitchell said:

Sitting on my workbench at the moment is an ex-LMS parallel boiler 2-6-4T, it having elbowed my almost-complete Coal Tank out of the way.

The loco is from the first production etch of Nigel Hunt's latest kit, and I am attempting to build it quickly while I write the instructions for Nigel.

Even if the loco is not fully finished, I'm hoping the instructions will be in the next couple of weeks (I'm already up to 40 pages...) and the kit can be released.

 

I'm not on commission, but Nigel has really excelled himself with this kit with some very clever design work. Not only is the footplate on 3 different levels, but the valances bend in an out in several places on each side. The bunker side bends in subtly too, but everything fits perfectly.

Nigel posted some photos of his own builds from various test etches on a separate thread a while ago, so I'll just show a couple of the hundred-plus I've taken to accompany the instructions...

 

 

Thanks for this Nick. Great work as usual.

 

Here is the link to my topic for this build. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/128847-fowler-2-6-4t-in-2mm-finescale/page/2/ 

 

 

Nigel

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11 hours ago, Nick Mitchell said:

Sitting on my workbench at the moment is an ex-LMS parallel boiler 2-6-4T, it having elbowed my almost-complete Coal Tank out of the way.

The loco is from the first production etch of Nigel Hunt's latest kit, and I am attempting to build it quickly while I write the instructions for Nigel.

Even if the loco is not fully finished, I'm hoping the instructions will be in the next couple of weeks (I'm already up to 40 pages...) and the kit can be released.

 

As Nigel said, that is great work Nick.

 

You definitely have the skills to make engines, your work is always top notch. I'm always in awe at the things you produce.

 

Julia.

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Regarding jigs for wheel quartering, it's not too difficult to do by eye. Remember that there is nothing sacred about 90 deg quartering, since three cylinder locos use 120 deg. The important thing is that all the axles are the same. By temporarily fitting the coupling rods on one side of the loco and putting them at, say, bottom dead centre you just need to make sure the other side crankpins are in a straight line. Adjust to suit. Move the coupling rod side to top dead centre and check again. If its different then your rods are out.

 

Keith

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A few more wagons have made it off my workbench over the last week or so.

 

Another one of the GER butter wagons from my 3D prints. This one is isn't yet weathered like it's neighbour. One more to go, and I'll have the complete fleet (of three)!

IMG_20200112_182923__01.jpg.da884947560071297d2ab07ef7c33984.jpg

 

Inspired by Izzy's recent post in his layout thread, I finally finished off one of the PECO grain wagon kits I'd started to try and improve ages ago - it's perfect to run on my distillery layout in BR Blue mode.

 

IMG_20200112_181437__01.jpg.5ae91514999a19c474320914ad9eb4e8.jpg

 

As per Izzy's approach, the chassis is just the PECO one, but with the brake shoes thinned down with a razor saw. I also attacked the mouldings that carry the vacuum cylinders etc with a file to try and thin them down and make the representations of the linkages stand out as 3D objects a bit more. Below the chassis I added a hopper chute from a 3D print, with handwheels from a random leftover etch. Painted with a spraycan Tamiya blue that looked like a good match, and I happened to have in the cupboard (with stickers on from the Modelzone closing down sale!). Transfers from Railtec. I've got several more of these which I'll do in different variations - one brown, one with advertising boards still in place, etc.

 

J

 

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5 hours ago, keitharmes said:

Regarding jigs for wheel quartering, it's not too difficult to do by eye. Remember that there is nothing sacred about 90 deg quartering, since three cylinder locos use 120 deg. The important thing is that all the axles are the same. By temporarily fitting the coupling rods on one side of the loco and putting them at, say, bottom dead centre you just need to make sure the other side crankpins are in a straight line. Adjust to suit. Move the coupling rod side to top dead centre and check again. If its different then your rods are out.

 

Keith

 

I find it helps to be able to see the spokes of the other wheels to see if all the wheels are set the same.  Perhaps just me.

 

Don

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7 hours ago, Donw said:

 

I find it helps to be able to see the spokes of the other wheels to see if all the wheels are set the same.  Perhaps just me.

 

Don

 

However, that does assume your wheels have spokes. And also doesn't apply where outside cranks have to be separately attached and s so do not align with the spokes. I think Julia went the right way by making a jig. In principle yes you can line the cranks up level by eye if you left the other side all bottom dead centre. But how do you know the other set are still bottom dead centre when you are now looking at the other side?

 

Chris

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1 hour ago, Chris Higgs said:

In principle yes you can line the cranks up level by eye if you left the other side all bottom dead centre. But how do you know the other set are still bottom dead centre when you are now looking at the other side?

 

Chris

 

Exactly this - this has always seemed to be a lot of my difficulty with quartering.

 

If you set one side to full forward or down position, and then go to adjust the other side by eye, I find the amount of force required to actually shift the stub axle is such that it's next to impossible to ensure the other side is still at exactly the same position. If the muffs had been opened out enough for it not to take so much force, it seems far too easy to then shift the quartering accidentally.

 

Perhaps it's actually easier with a big express engine, where more of the spokes are visible above or below the frames, than on a small 0-6-0?

 

J

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Never tried it myself, but would a mirror help to ensure the side set at bottom dead centre are still there when checking the other side?

I've always done my wheels as 4 coupled, only rotating one wheel until I'm happy that the quartering of the wheel I'm moving matches the adjoining pair (whatever angle that may be), before moving to the next axle (ensuring that I have a rolling 4 coupled engine before tackling the next axle if you see what I mean).

Ian

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1 hour ago, Chris Higgs said:

...But how do you know the other set are still bottom dead centre when you are now looking at the other side?

 

With cunning.

I came across this issue when I had to re-quarter some wheels and couldn't see through the bits between the frames to the spokes on the other side. (Not that you can always rely on the spokes being in the same place relative to the crank pin, if using wheels from different production batches...)

I solved it by marking the spoke (or whatever) position on the inside of the wheel tyre on one side with a fine permanent marker, and the outside of the flange on the other side.

I could then line the marks up by eye, looking across the bottom of the chassis, without difficulty.

 

Nick.

 

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If you grip the wheel on the far side firmly between finger and thumb of your left hand and then use a watchmakers screwdriver inserted between the spokes of the wheel you want to move, I find you can achieve very fine adjustments fairly easily.  Always works for me!

 

Jim

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4 hours ago, Chris Higgs said:

 

However, that does assume your wheels have spokes. And also doesn't apply where outside cranks have to be separately attached and s so do not align with the spokes. I think Julia went the right way by making a jig. In principle yes you can line the cranks up level by eye if you left the other side all bottom dead centre. But how do you know the other set are still bottom dead centre when you are now looking at the other side?

 

Chris

 

My original comment had been made before Julia said she had made a jig. In this case I think making the jig was the right way. I do rather like Nick's idea. Doing the quartering of one pair first on six  coupled locos is much easier if you have jointed rods. 

Don

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2 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

If you grip the wheel on the far side firmly between finger and thumb of your left hand and then use a watchmakers screwdriver inserted between the spokes of the wheel you want to move, I find you can achieve very fine adjustments fairly easily.  Always works for me!

 

Jim

 

You guys are still assuming

 

a) the wheel has spokes

b) the crankpin hole is in the wheel, not on an outside crank

 

Neither is true for Julia's loco, and b) isn't true if your loco is an 08 shunter!

 

Chris

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1 hour ago, CF MRC said:

You don’t need jointed rods Don, you simply put the rods on backwards - hanging over the back (or front). 
 

Tim

 
I could never work out why putting the rods on backwards helped - and now it’s just clicked in my brain! So simple, thanks Tim!!

 

Simon

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1 hour ago, Chris Higgs said:

 

You guys are still assuming

 

a) the wheel has spokes

b) the crankpin hole is in the wheel, not on an outside crank

 

Neither is true for Julia's loco, and b) isn't true if your loco is an 08 shunter!

Agreed on both counts, Chris, but I was speaking in general terms in response to Justin's post

 

Jim

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